Car rental firm Hertz UAE on Saturday said its operations in the country are not affected by the collapse of its parent company in the US.

However, the UAE subsidiary is waiting for an official communication from Hertz Global Holdings, which filed for bankruptcy protection in the UD on Friday after coronavirus crippled its business. By the end of March, Hertz Global Holdings had racked up $18.7 billion in debt with only $1 billion of available cash.

"We, as trade mark operator for Hertz in the UAE, are awaiting official updates from Hertz Global Holdings on this subject. In the meantime, our operations remain unaffected by the development," the company said in a statement sent to Khaleej Times.

In the UAE, Al-Futtaim Automotive Group owns franchise for Hertz UAE, which has been operating in the country since 1993. The car rental firm is one of the largest purchasers of vehicles in the UAE, managing over 10,000 vehicles on fleet and 15 rental locations in the UAE.

"We are not in a position to comment on the situation at the moment and we will continue to manage our operations to the standards expected of an Al-Futtaim Automotive Group company," Hertz UAE said in a statement to this newspaper.

Hertz Global Holdings and its subsidiaries will continue to operate, according to a release from the company. Hertz's principal international operating regions and franchised locations are not included in the filing, the US-based company said a statement released in the US.

In March, Hertz laid off 12,000 employees and put another 4,000 on furlough, cut vehicle acquisitions by 90 per cent and stopped all nonessential spending. The company said the moves would save $2.5 billion per year.